Leave your hair dryer at home.

No. A field team needs to have health care providers, dentists and nurses.
However, we also need enthusiastic lay volunteers. There are a myriad of tasks that support the medical staff, so every team includes several lay volunteers.

Yes. Although Honduras does not recognize mid-level providers. Therefore, we have a physician on every trip to “oversee” nurse practitioners or physician assistants. However, these providers are more than welcome and often do extremely well in our field clinics.  Our general rule is that your scope of practice is the same as the one you follow at home.
Paramedics and EMTs are great team members, but also must stay within the scope of practice they live.

If you have identified a specific team that you would like to join, click on the Apply Now button for that trip. This will lead you to our online volunteer application. Select New Volunteer or Returning Volunteer and you will be guided through the application process. Your team leaders will review each application and respond to your placement on a team. We can't always accommodate every applicant.  Our team enrollment is a 3-step process that allows us to staff our teams and provides the best opportunities for our volunteers to participate. If you have questions any time during the process, please contact info@medico.org.

 MEDICO requires all volunteers to be fully vaccinated.  We do not require boosters, but if your vaccination or last booster is more than six months old, we strongly recommend a booster. Volunteers are required to carry their original vaccination card with them. Currently, neither Honduras or the United States requires arriving passengers to have a COVID test.

All non-Honduran team members require current passports. Your passport must be good for more than six months beyond your trip dates. Be sure to check your passport as people have been refused entry because of this.
Currently, holders of U.S., Canadian or British passports do not require visas to enter Honduras. If you hold a passport from another country, contact your state department to determine if additional requirements are necessary.

Three days prior to your departure, you will need to pre-register online with the Honduran Immigration authorities at https://prechequeo.inm.gob.hn/Login .  Your team leaders will be giving you instructions on how to complete the form.

Honduras does not require any immunizations. However, MEDICO requires that all team members have current DPT (tetanus) immunization. Typhoid does exist in Honduras. Immunization is recommended but not required. Care providers who will have physical contact with patients should also have hepatitis immunizations. All team members should have a travel medicine consultation with their primary care provider. Feel free to email info@medico.org if you have any questions or go the Center for Disease Control website for additional information. http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel

You do not need to speak Spanish to volunteer with us. We hire interpreters to join our teams to assist any volunteers who are not Spanish speakers. That said, knowing any amount of Spanish will enhance your trip experience.

Honduras requires face masks on public transportation and in public buildings.  MEDICO encourages the wearing of face masks during clinic hours.  We will provide face masks to all patients. MEDICO will have face masks and N95 respirators available, but ask all  team members bring their own face masks so they are available at all times.

Our trip fee is divided into two parts. There is a $100 non-refundable deposit that is due upon confirmation that you have been accepted to a trip. The remainder of the trip fee is paid later in the application process, closer to the trip date. The fee covers all in-country lodging, transportation and meals, medical travel insurance, the hiring of interpreters to assist the team, and the purchase of medicines and supplies a team may need.

Note: Airfare is not covered. Volunteers are responsible for purchasing their own airfare. The fee does not cover pre-trip meals. Once you have purchased your ticket after signing on to a team, a copy of your itinerary will be requested by the MEDICO office staff.

Accommodations are highly variable, depending on the trip’s location. In transit and occasionally on site, teams stay in a hostel or hotel.  Rooms will be shared. Hot water will often not be available. However, we patronize places we have used many times before, that are safe, and for the
most part clean. At more remote sites, teams will sleep on mats on the floor in backpacker-style tents.

In transit, we stop at cafes we have used before, that are clean and safe. On site, we  hire a cook and have our own food prepared. Choices will be limited. Food will be similar to the local diet, heavy on
rice, beans, yucca, eggs and tortillas. If you have specific dietary restrictions or allergies, let us know. Bottled water can be purchased to and from the works and purified water will be available on site.

Remember: All your food, lodging, transportation and accommodations during the dates of the trip are covered. Teams members may wish to have $75-100 in spending for souvenirs, snacks and drinks along the way. Do not depend on ATM machines. They are sometimes hard to find and their hours are very sporadic. Credit cards can be used at some major hotels and restaurants, but are not accepted in rural areas. Please bring small bills ($20 and under) as most items are inexpensive.

NOTE: make sure that any bills you bring are not crumpled or torn and are unmarked (no pen drawings or markings). Businesses and the local people are very particular about the condition of the bills and will not accept them if they are torn or marked up.

In the document “What to Expect as a MEDICO Volunteer”, there is a sample packing list. Lists vary a bit, depending on the worksite location and the time of year.

MEDICO discourages giving out candy, toys, money, etc. to the local children. Their parents often disapprove of children begging. If you want to bring something, bring school supplies such as pencils,
stickers, chalk, or even a soccer ball that we can donate to the local school for all the kids to share.
Our medications and supplies are chosen to be consistent with treatment protocols of local providers. If you want to bring medications or medical supplies, contact your team leaders to discuss what might be appropriate. Please note that Honduras absolutely prohibits the importation of expired medications.

We have had many families join our teams with great success. Generally, we require that our volunteers are at least 18 years of age; however, if you have a son or daughter 15-18 years of age, please understand they will be assigned a position as a working member of the team. Contact us at info@medico.org as exceptions will be considered.

We understand that sometimes things don’t always go as planned. If you need to cancel your place on a team, please contact your team leaders and send an email to info@medico.org, as soon as possible. Trip fees minus the $100 deposit are refundable.